Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: f496642ecc00772adaae1d7b0043ec702c7e08915d3e89d778cde014366e29b1

# Facilitation Market

Participants draft facilitation skill cards under cost constraints, pair up to combine skills into a character scenario, and share practical advice for group work.

**Time:** 35 minutes. Adjusted to a standard 35-minute workshop block from the source 30 to 60 minute range.
**People:** 6 to 24. Individual card selection, paired development, and whole-room sharing.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify core facilitation behaviors and evaluate how combining different skills handles difficult group situations.
**Use it when:** Use during facilitator training, train-the-trainer workshops, or project kickoffs when members need to establish shared facilitation practices.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants need to solve an urgent operational dispute or when a playful framing conflicts with strict technical delivery.

## Materials and tools

- One printed card deck of at least 48 skill cards (2 cards per participant minimum, provided in participant materials)
- Table space to lay out cards face down
- Countdown timer display
- Index cards or scrap paper for notes (1 sheet per pair)
- Pens (1 per person)

## Before participants arrive

1. Print and cut the supplied skill card deck (at least 48 cards for up to 24 participants).
2. Spread all cards face down across a central market table.
3. Ensure clear walking paths around the market table to prevent crowding.

## Say this to open

Welcome to the market. Spread across this table are skills used to lead groups through complex work, each categorized by a suit and a level cost. In a moment, you will have sixty seconds to draft three cards. Your three items must come from different suits, and their combined level must add up to strictly less than nine. Once you have a valid set, return to your seat.

## How to run it

### 1. Explain constraints and draft (4 minutes)

Deliver opening instructions. Review the drafting constraints: pick exactly three cards, ensure each is from a different suit (Focus, Energy, Structure, Insight), and ensure their combined level sum is strictly less than 9. Start a 60-second timer. Participants walk to the table, turn over cards, choose their three, and return to their seats.

### 2. Select core skill (4 minutes)

Individually, participants examine their three cards and pick one favorite skill to focus on. On scrap paper, they note why they picked it, how it supports a working group, and one practical tip for using it effectively.

### 3. Form pairs and build character (10 minutes)

Participants form pairs. If an odd number is present, one trio forms. Each pair brings their selected favorite cards together. They create a brief persona or scenario combining both skills to handle a tough group moment. They write down three concrete pieces of advice for using these two skills together on an index card. Example: Pairing Active Listening (Focus) with Timekeeper (Structure) to gently cut off a long-winded speaker while validating their contribution.

### 4. Share scenarios and advice (12 minutes)

Pairs report back in 60 seconds each. Order turns by combined card level, starting from the lowest level sum to the highest. Pairs introduce their two combined skills, state the scenario they addressed, and share their practical advice. At maximum group size (12 pairs), keep turns strictly to 60 seconds so every pair presents within the 12 minutes.

### 5. Debrief and integration (5 minutes)

Facilitator leads whole-group reflection on the skill combinations using the debrief questions. Invite participants to keep their favorite skill card as an active focus for the rest of the day.


## Debrief questions

- Which skill combinations felt most complementary when addressing group friction?
- What unexpected difficulties arise when someone relies exclusively on high-level or assertive facilitation tools?
- Which single skill from today will you actively practice in your next group meeting?

**Finished output:** Paired facilitation scenarios and specific behavioral advice recorded on index cards.

## Remote

Replicate the card deck on a digital whiteboard. Provide individual private work areas for each participant, with a private set of 6 dealt face-down cards (two from each of three suits). Give participants two minutes to flip their personal cards, select 3 matching the suit and sum rules, and discard the rest. Move participants into paired breakout rooms for ten minutes to craft their scenario. Reconvene in the main room and have pairs present in ascending order of their combined card level.

## Hybrid

Provide remote participants access to private digital card sets while in-person participants use physical cards. Form in-person pairs with local peers and remote pairs in virtual breakouts. When reconvening, project the video feed and a shared document to the physical room. Alternate reports between an in-person pair and a remote pair in order of their combined card level, displaying remote pairs' cards on screen while they speak.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide an option to observe card selection from the table edge while a partner or facilitator hands them cards to review without rushing.
- Allow participants to share their scenario purely as an objective workplace case study rather than using fantasy roleplay framing.
- Any participant may pass during whole-room reporting or choose to submit written advice to the shared notes board.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants bump into each other or rush aggressively at the market table.**

Enforce a walking-only rule and invite half the room to approach from one side and half from the other, or increase the draft timer to two minutes.

**A participant cannot find a card combination that adds to strictly less than Level 9 before time expires.**

Allow them to keep any two different-suit cards whose sum is under 9 and proceed without penalty.


## Terms used here

- Level: A numerical value on each card (1 to 4) representing the complexity or energetic cost of using that facilitation behavior.
- Suit: One of four functional domains of facilitation: Focus, Energy, Structure, or Insight.

## Participant material: Facilitation Market Skill Deck

Print and cut the following 24 cards (print duplicate sets for larger groups):

[Suit: Focus]
- Card 1: Active Listening (Level 1) | Rephrase and validate contributions before moving on.
- Card 2: Ground Rules Anchor (Level 2) | Remind group of agreed norms when discussions wander.
- Card 3: Neutral Mirror (Level 3) | Reflect group tension back without taking personal sides.
- Card 4: Tension Breaker (Level 4) | Direct group attention directly into underlying disagreements.
- Card 5: Silence Holder (Level 1) | Allow 10 seconds of quiet after asking difficult questions.
- Card 6: Topic Sentry (Level 2) | Redirect conversations that drift outside stated scope.

[Suit: Energy]
- Card 7: Quick Energizer (Level 1) | Run a sixty-second physical or mental shift.
- Card 8: Temperature Check (Level 2) | Gauge participant exhaustion or engagement via quick hand polling.
- Card 9: Space Reset (Level 3) | Change the physical layout or virtual breakout grouping mid-meeting.
- Card 10: Momentum Builder (Level 4) | Accelerate decision-making when the room drops into analysis paralysis.
- Card 11: Pace Regulator (Level 1) | Intentionally slow the cadence when people speak too fast.
- Card 12: Micro-Break Caller (Level 2) | Intervene to insert a necessary pause when attention flags.

[Suit: Structure]
- Card 13: Timekeeper (Level 1) | Announce clear remaining time thresholds for each agenda block.
- Card 14: Parking Lot Guard (Level 2) | Document tangential points to protect current topic time.
- Card 15: Process Diver (Level 3) | Clarify decision-making criteria before debating options.
- Card 16: Scope Sculptor (Level 4) | Redraw workshop boundaries on the fly when goals prove unrealistic.
- Card 17: Turn Balancer (Level 1) | Track speaking turns so dominant voices do not run the meeting.
- Card 18: Visual Tracker (Level 2) | Capture group points in real time where all can verify wording.

[Suit: Insight]
- Card 19: Clarifying Inquiry (Level 1) | Ask participants to define jargon or vague assertions.
- Card 20: Assumptions Probe (Level 2) | Ask what unspoken premises must hold true for an idea to work.
- Card 21: Perspective Swap (Level 3) | Instruct subgroups to argue from another stakeholder's vantage point.
- Card 22: Synthesis Spark (Level 4) | Connect three separate conversational threads into a coherent proposal.
- Card 23: Direct Questioner (Level 1) | Pose targeted queries to test alignment across attendees.
- Card 24: Premise Challenger (Level 2) | Question the underlying constraints the group treats as fixed.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on SessionLab, where it is attributed to James Smart.

Retained the core mechanic from SessionLab/James Smart: drafting 3 cards strictly under Level 9 from different suits at speed, selecting a favorite item, combining cards in pairs, and reporting back ordered by card level. Replaced dependency on external proprietary download files by creating a complete 24-card functional facilitation skill deck. Structured timing to a crisp 35-minute block with tight 60-second pair reporting to accommodate all pairs up to group_max 24.

[SessionLab](https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/facilitation-market)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/facilitation-market/